Scaphoid fractures.. wearing a wrist brace instead of a cast??

I have a suspected scaphoid fracture after skydiving off my bike.
Whats the STW verdict on wearing a wrist brace instead of a cast??
Something like this..
http://www.physioroom.com/product/Aircast_A2_Wrist_Brace_with_Thumb_Spica/2035/37829.html

The cast is already driving me nuts and feels really claustrophobic.
Basically i can still pretty much do my job with a cast on.. its the driving to work that i cant do because of a cast.

What did the fracture clinic say when you asked them?

I had a splint on my broken scaphoid for about 3 months. After 8 weeks in plaster.

And it’s still not right 2 years later.

As above the person to make that decision is the one that saw you.

I am not an orthopod, but scaphoid fractures don’t heal well due to the limited blood supply. You don’t want a non-union or avascular necrosis as you’ll be off the bike even longer if you need surgery.

Keep the cast on.

Andy

Mine was mis-diagnosed twice so I had nothing on it. Didn’t seem to do any harm.

And it’s still not right 2 years later.

3 years next week since I broke mine – and it’s still giving me grief when it’s cold/wet 😐

My problem is work is 12 miles away and cant afford to take the time off (used up nearly all of my holiday time already).. the only way i can get there is driving due to my rural location. My dad has kindly volunteered to chauffeur me until i have another xray in 10 days

See if you can have an MRI scan:

Hospital wanted to put my wrist in plaster for possible scaphoid fracture – told them I didn’t want it in plaster so they sent me for MRI scan instead. Got the all clear and just used a splint for a few weeks.

Mine was in plaster for nine weeks. Six to start with and a further three because it wasn’t healing properly. I wouldn’t want to take the long term risk of cutting corners in the healing process. Unfortunately I have no answers to your transport problems. Mrs W was getting fed up of being my chauffeurse after nine weeks.

not wanting to be a voice of doom but some car insurance companies wouldn’t want you driving with a recognised break anyway. regardless of whats on it.
good luck, i was mega lucky in that i broke the opposite side of the same joint, can’t remember what its called now but it healed really well in a couple of weeks.
stainburn when tired, not a good move!

Fingers crossed it isnt fracutured.. im just thinking of my options

I asked the insurance company if I could drive. They said to ask the consultant, who flatly said no. In hindsight I think he was right.

I still ran in the local cross country league though. Not very successfully. I never knew how much you needed fully functioning arms to balance when running.

I’ve been out of my cast for 2 months now and I tried to get a splint as I had a contract on the Olympics. I was told that if I had a splint it would cause so many long term problems it would not be worth it.

Keep the fast on and it will be much better in the long run dude

if your tender in the snuff box when you visit ED you will get a brace/cast and normally a 2 week fracture clinic appointment , this will give time for any healing to show up on repeat x rays , keep the cast on until then and take the advice of the ortho consultant and not from anybody else :-)cheers and good luck .

Fingers crossed it isnt fracutured.. im just thinking of my options

Tbh if you can cross your fingers it sounds like its not fractured 😉

feels really claustrophobic.

did they put it over your head?

I can cross my fingers fine.. its gripping and holding that hurts. My hand bulked under rather than back when i landed on it

I wasn’t allowed to drive for 8 months whilst mine failed to heal due to late diagnosis and me being an idiot. I tried that wrist brace but it’s not a patch on a cast in terms of reminding you NOT to use it.

If it doesn’t heal you get a bone graft and one of these:

Which reminds you it’s fitted every time you ride over cobbles, catch you wrist bone on an edge or clatter over roots.

I could cross my fingers ok when it was bust, even rode my bike(painfully) but opening jam jars was impossibly painful. As in eye wateringly, knees buckling, dissolving on the floor in agony painful.

Don’t mess with this bone.

Who would have thought a little bone could be such a pain in the ass wrist